The Capital Express (Turkish: Başkent Ekspresi) was one of the six daily intercity trains operating between Istanbul and Ankara on the Istanbul-Ankara railway before the Yüksek Hızlı Tren high-speed train service replaced all intercity trains on the line. The Capital Express was the fastest of the six trains, making limited stops only in large cities. The train would complete its journey in just over four hours and in the Eskişehir Province, trains would reach conventional speeds of 150 km/h (93 mph), which still hold the record for fastest conventional train service in Turkey. When the high-speed rail service was opened between Ankara and Eskişehir on 13 March 2009, the Capital Express, along with the other five intercity trains, were cut back between Istanbul and Eskişehir. During this period two more daily intercity trains were added, the Sakarya Express and Eskişehir Express, increasing daily intercity service to eight trains.
Başkent Ekspresi Capital Express
The eastbound Capital Express waiting to depart Haydarpaşa station in Istanbul.
On 31 January 2012, the Capital Express was discontinued due to the rehabilitation of the railway between Istanbul and Arifye. When trackwork was completed in 2014, YHT high-speed service replaced the Capital Express all the way from Ankara to Istanbul.[3]
HistoryEdit
By the early 1990s, the Turkish State Railways' already bad reputation was worsening. Even TCDD's flagship train, the Fatih Express, running from Istanbul to Ankara, was losing market share to buses and airlines. New modern buses as well as the construction of the Istanbul-Ankara highway nearing completion, made passengers choose bus over train for the route. Even though the Fatih Express made limited stops; the blue-red Pullman fleet, which the train used, was greatly unpopular with the public. The cars lacked proper suspension and air-conditioning, which made journeys in the summer very uncomfortable, due to the generally arid and hot climate of central Anatolia. In the winter, radiators on the train would burn uncontrollably, sometimes even melting shoes rested upon them.
These problems forced the State Railways to introduce a new train service on the line. In 1992, the Capital Express was introduced with new TVS2000 railcars. These new railcars had new bogies with new suspension, which made journeys more comfortable. Along with better suspension, the railcars also had sound insulation, air-conditioning and automatic doors.[1]
When the entire Istanbul-Ankara railway was electrified in 1993, the Capital Express was able to operate at greater speeds, most notably between İnönü and Eskişehir. The train became the State Railways' flagship service until 2009, when the Eskişehir-Ankara portion of the Istanbul-Ankara high-speed railway was opened and Yüksek Hızlı Tren high-speed passenger service became the pride of the TCDD. On 13 March 2009, the Capital Express was shortened by 263 km (163 mi) to Eskişehir and served as an extension of the YHT train service to Istanbul. On 31 January 2012, the Capital Express was discontinued due to the rehabilitation of the railway in Istanbul to accommodate new high-speed rail service.
capital, express, turkey, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, capital, express, turkey, news, newspapers. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Capital Express Turkey news newspapers books scholar JSTOR May 2016 Learn how and when to remove this template message The Capital Express Turkish Baskent Ekspresi was one of the six daily intercity trains operating between Istanbul and Ankara on the Istanbul Ankara railway before the Yuksek Hizli Tren high speed train service replaced all intercity trains on the line The Capital Express was the fastest of the six trains making limited stops only in large cities The train would complete its journey in just over four hours and in the Eskisehir Province trains would reach conventional speeds of 150 km h 93 mph which still hold the record for fastest conventional train service in Turkey When the high speed rail service was opened between Ankara and Eskisehir on 13 March 2009 the Capital Express along with the other five intercity trains were cut back between Istanbul and Eskisehir During this period two more daily intercity trains were added the Sakarya Express and Eskisehir Express increasing daily intercity service to eight trains Baskent EkspresiCapital ExpressThe eastbound Capital Express waiting to depart Haydarpasa station in Istanbul OverviewService typeIntercity railStatusDiscontinuedLocaleNorthwest Central AnatoliaFirst service1993 1 Last service31 January 2012 2 Current operator s Turkish State RailwaysRouteTerminiHaydarpasa IstanbulAnkara 1992 2009 Eskisehir 2009 12 Distance travelled576 km 357 9 mi 1992 2009 313 km 194 5 mi 2009 12 Average journey time2 hours 27 minutesService frequencyDailyOn board servicesSeating arrangementsAirline style coach seatingCatering facilitiesOn board cafeTechnicalRolling stockTVS2000Track gauge1 435 mm 4 ft 8 1 2 in standard gaugeElectrification25 kV 50 Hz ACOperating speed150 km h 93 mph maximumTrack owner s TCDDRoute mapLegendDistance Station0 Istanbul1 km 0 6 mi Sogutlucesme9 km 6 mi Bostanci24 km 15 mi Pendik91 km 57 mi Izmit131 km 81 mi Arifye231 km 144 mi Bilecik263 km 163 mi Bozuyuk313 km 194 mi Eskisehir486 km 302 mi Polatli551 km 342 mi Sincan576 km 358 mi AnkaraOn 31 January 2012 the Capital Express was discontinued due to the rehabilitation of the railway between Istanbul and Arifye When trackwork was completed in 2014 YHT high speed service replaced the Capital Express all the way from Ankara to Istanbul 3 History EditBy the early 1990s the Turkish State Railways already bad reputation was worsening Even TCDD s flagship train the Fatih Express running from Istanbul to Ankara was losing market share to buses and airlines New modern buses as well as the construction of the Istanbul Ankara highway nearing completion made passengers choose bus over train for the route Even though the Fatih Express made limited stops the blue red Pullman fleet which the train used was greatly unpopular with the public The cars lacked proper suspension and air conditioning which made journeys in the summer very uncomfortable due to the generally arid and hot climate of central Anatolia In the winter radiators on the train would burn uncontrollably sometimes even melting shoes rested upon them These problems forced the State Railways to introduce a new train service on the line In 1992 the Capital Express was introduced with new TVS2000 railcars These new railcars had new bogies with new suspension which made journeys more comfortable Along with better suspension the railcars also had sound insulation air conditioning and automatic doors 1 When the entire Istanbul Ankara railway was electrified in 1993 the Capital Express was able to operate at greater speeds most notably between Inonu and Eskisehir The train became the State Railways flagship service until 2009 when the Eskisehir Ankara portion of the Istanbul Ankara high speed railway was opened and Yuksek Hizli Tren high speed passenger service became the pride of the TCDD On 13 March 2009 the Capital Express was shortened by 263 km 163 mi to Eskisehir and served as an extension of the YHT train service to Istanbul On 31 January 2012 the Capital Express was discontinued due to the rehabilitation of the railway in Istanbul to accommodate new high speed rail service References Edit a b TVS2000 railcar history trainsofturkey com Tren seferleri iptal ogrenciler magdur Students victims of canceled trains milliyet com tr in Turkish 1 September 2012 Baskent Ekspresi Nereden Nereye in Turkish Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Capital Express Turkey amp oldid 1086395080, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
